The Passage to Adulthood: Emotional and behavioral changes in Adolescence

THE ART OF ADULTHOOD IS TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCE WITHOUT ARROGANCE

-          Andrew Fuller

 Development is a lifelong process which does not stop at any particular stage. The development of an individual does not stop with attaining adulthood. However, adolescence is regarded as the most vulnerable stage when an individual’s undergo most changes. Adolescence is generally defined as the second decade of a child’s development. It is the period of transition from childhood to adulthood which occurs between the age group of 13 to 19.

Challenges occur mainly in the late adolescent period. Considered as emerging adulthood, late adolescence is significant for building the base for developmental changes to occur throughout the life span. Challenges are seen to be in the form of behavioral challenges, cognitive challenges and behavioral challenges. However this article will focus on emotional and behavioral challenges due to its rising seriousness. Before moving on to the challenges, attempt should be made to comprehend the scenario which arouses such situations.

ROLE OF MODERN SOCIETY IN POSITING CHALLENGES

The concept of modernity today has become a controversial one embodying both positive and negative implications. Modern society today became highly specialized in economic and social realms that it is recognized as being fragmented by experts. This leads to the lack of interaction between the people or communities together. Modern society, which is the abode of an individual, is obvious to play a crucial role in the development of the child by influencing him or her in varied ways. Some among such significant challenges are discussed below.

1) The Rise in the concept of Individualism: Today, man is the center of the universe. The focus lies on the individual. Therefore, people turned self-centered focusing on individual needs and desires. Individual autonomy , individual rights and individual desires , hopes and dreams gains prime importance leading to a decline in collective or brotherhood feeling. This, in a way affects the teenager who by imitating people surrounding him turns self-centered.

 

2) Development in Science and Technology: Scientific development today reached its peak. People are luxuriating the wonders of sciences which simplify complicated tasks.  However, due to the development in the electronic gadgets and with the coming of computers, smart phones and video games, the teenager gets immersed in it. This leads to the lack to communication among the family members or their closed ones. This in turn affects the behavior of the child turning him to a more introvert kind of an individual due to the lack of interaction.

3) Excessive exposure to media:  Media today plays a significant role in shaping teenage behaviors. A teenager’s body image is being influenced by the media. A teenager’s fashion sense is being shaped by media. Apart from this, the violent content in media which mirrors the violence in the modern society affects

4) Increase in competitiveness: Modern society is characterized by a high degree of competitiveness. With the increase in job opportunities, demands for better intakes too increased. Teenagers are under tremendous pressure to cater to those demands right from their schooling. This might lead the teenager to get frustrated and miss out the real happiness of life. This in turn might result in many behavioral and emotional changes in the teenager.

5) Rise in Materialism: Today’s modern society promotes materialism.  Success and happiness are measured with material goods by the teenagers. A decline in material belongings leads the teenagers to undergo inferiority complex when compared with their peers. The behavior of the teenagers is also thus shaped in that manner.

6) Single parent household: In today’s modern society, joint families are being replaced by the nuclear ones. Pathetic are those where a child grows up with a single parent and miss out on important family values of togetherness. This too adversely affects a child’s growth.

EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL CHALLENGES

From the above discussion it is clear that contemporary society plays a significant role in positing challenges for the teenagers.  Adolescent age is marked by immense turmoil in behavioral and emotional spheres. Teenagers more often are seen to battle with emotional and behavioral challenges. Some of the major emotional challenges are:

1)  Emotional Imbalance:  Teenagers exhibit strong and intense emotions at times. Mood seems unpredictable and the emotional imbalance leads to conflict within them. They turn very sensitive to emotions.

2) Self-consciousness: Teenagers are more self-conscious about their physical appearance and other changes. Their self-esteem is seen to be shaped by this self-consciousness.

3)   Depression and anxiety: The teenagers easily fall prey to depression and anxiety. The modern society too plays a crucial role in his aspect. Unable to recognize their self, the teenagers undergo the dreary experience of depression.

4) Instability of the mind: During this stage, the teenagers fail to achieve a stable state of mind. They are unable to make independent permanent decisions. Instead their decisions and opinions keep changing with the change in trend and thus they fail to build a strong and static personality.

5)     Negative feelings rule: It is during this stage that the teenagers are captured by a feeling of hopelessness. A small rejection they face leads to complete hopelessness and losing of confidence. Feeling of worthlessness, self-balance, guilt and self-criticism rules their mind. Suicidal tendencies and the thought of death to disturb them. Insecurities, irritations and frustrations grab them.

6)  Conflict with the closed ones:  At this stage, we witness the teenagers indulging in conflicts. Difference of opinion is experienced which leads to arguments and conflicts. They feel the need t assert their opinion over others frequently and fail to acknowledge the loopholes in their opinions.

7)  Losing the track of small happiness: Teenagers at their stage gets more inclined towards material pleasure and ultimately lose pleasure in normal activities no matter how small they are. They fail to find happiness in the natural sources.

These emotional challenges also lead to behavioral changes in the teenagers. Rather than the emotional challenges, these behavioral are the outward changes that are visible.

1)   Change in social relationships: Teenagers are more incline towards their friends rather than their family at this stage. Thus they at times experience peer pressure. They social circle changes and friends gain prime importance.

2)  Mood swings: Teenagers often experience mood swings as a result of which they might behave unexpectedly at times. They react immediately to a situation which lands them into trouble.

3) Alcohol and drug abuse: The teenagers during this stage are more prone to alcohol and drug abuse which might also be a result of peer pressure. This in turn hampers their thinking and reasoning capacities                                                   

4)  Increase of interest in the opposite sex: Until the adolescent stage, children are more inclined towards people of their same sex. But, during the teenage period, a change in behavior creeps in. The teenagers seem to be more interested in the opposite sex which results in premature relationships.

5) Unexpected behavior: Teenagers exhibit unexpected behavior due to emotional imbalance and lack of control over the emotions.

6)   Change in eating behaviors: Eating disorders and excessive exercising is experienced in this stage.

7)   Changes in energy levels: More tiredness and overeating characterize this stage.

           Now, an adolescent burdened with these challenges might lose the track of the right doings. They might also be unable to handle these pressures ultimately falling into depression. In such a situation, an elderly person needs to intervene and carefully handle the sensitive situation

Some of the significant measures that can be undertaken to help a teenager battles with the challenges are as follows:

1)   Interaction with the child: Only with interactions, problems can be fixed. The family members as well as the child should interact with the child lending them a scope to share their problems.

2)    Counselling  programs: Counseling programs help a lot when the parents of the victim are unable to spend time with their child due to hectic schedule. In counseling programs, the teenager enjoys the freedom of sharing varied kind of issues ranging from physical to psychological

3)   Focus on the development of good habits: Introducing the teenager with positive habits like book reading, creative arts, creative writing and sports enables their mental growth. Teenage being the most productive stage should be provided with the right kind of impetus required.

4)     Sex education should be provided: Teenagers should be exposed to sex education so that inculcate a positive attitude towards relationships which also prevents them from the danger of getting into problems.

5)      Positive role models: Teenage is the time when role models are formed. Leadership qualities should be fostered. They are completely into “hero worshiping”. Therefore, positive role models should be built so that they can affect the teenager in a healthy manner.

6)  Activity options should be provided to the teens: The teens should be granted the chance to entertain themselves with other activity options which will deviate their attention from the substances of alcohol and drugs.

7)   Friendly relation: Teenage is the period when the child cannot be taught with the use of violence and power. Therefore, parents and teachers should develop a friendly relation with the child so that they feel free to approach them.

 Adolescence should be viewed as a period of opportunity instead of turmoil. The emotional and behavioral challenges can be reduced to a large extent through positive measures. Many positive facets of this stage cannot be covered under the confusion and chaos that it embodies.  Adolescence though is a period of storm or stress is also a period of innovation and development when taken proper care.  Adolescence is a mental concept rather than a concept of numbers. Thus, it has been rightly said that –

“As a child I assumed that when I reached adulthood, I would have grown up thoughts”

- David Sedaris